Although sanctuary policies are illegal under Federal law, two states (Maine and New Mexico) and a multitude of cities and counties maintain policies that forbid officials from asking about a person's immigration status or informing Federal immigration authorities about the presence of illegal aliens.
On Monday the New York Senate passed the "Green Light Bill," which is designed to give illegal aliens what New York considers the "right to a driver's license. Last week, the New York State Assembly passed the bill with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo, last night Gov. Cuomo signed the bill into law.
According to a report published by Forbes, health care for 3.9 million uninsured illegal aliens costs American taxpayers $18.5 billion annually. Of that total, $11.2 billion in federal taxes went to subsidizing care for illegal aliens in 2016.
A new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report shows that between April 1 and June 31, 102,568 DACA applications were approved. This is a slight decrease from the second quarter when 124,799 applications were approved.
Candidate Trump promised to end the illegal and unconstitutional DACA program on "day one" of his Administration. He failed to keep that promise. There is talk in Congress of a new version of the DREAM Act to reward DACA recipients a formal amnesty. The President must decide where lie his priorities. With the American people and the U.S. Constitution, or with the D.C. special interests who are cynically attempting to play to people's sympathies in order to prevent genuine reform of the immigration system?
Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) is working with several House Republicans to strip Rep. Pete Aguilar’s (D-Calif.) amendment that would allow illegal aliens who receive the unconstitutional DACA executive amnesty to compete with American workers for jobs with the federal government. The amendment was passed by a voice vote as part of the FY18 Financial Services and General Government spending bill.
Here is a list of all of the House Representatives on the Appropriations Committee who claim to have voted against the Pete Aguilar amendment that would make DACA recipients eligible for federal jobs. The amendment was passed by a voice vote and therefore not recorded. Some committee members were reported to have appealed for a recorded vote by Chairman Frelinghuysen who denied them.
Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.):
The House Appropriations Committee approved an amendment late Thursday night that would allow illegal aliens who receive the unconstitutional DACA executive amnesty to compete with American workers for jobs with the federal government. The amendment, offered by Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), was part of the FY18 Financial Services and General Government spending bill and was passed by a voice vote.
At a meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus DHS Sec. John Kelly reportedly said he can’t promise that the Administration will defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program if challenged in court. 10 states are threatening to include DACA in a pending lawsuit if the Administration does not begin to phase out the program by September 5th.
Ten states have asked to Trump Administration to end the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program by September 5th, and to refrain from renewing or issuing new DACA permits. Failure to do so will prompt the states to amend a case challenging the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and extended DACA programs to include the original DACA program.
During Pres. Obama’s eight-year administration 141,91 illegal aliens were given citizenship and work permits through the U Visa program, despite the 10,000 per year cap. During Obama’s first term 63,000 U visa requests were approved and 78,637 were approved during his second term which means that they approved around 62,000 additional U visas over the cap limit.
The House of Representatives passed the Verify First Act, H.R. 2581, introduced by Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), on Tuesday. The legislation, which would block illegal aliens from taxpayer-funded health insurance credits, passed by a 238-to-184 margin.
NumbersUSA sent out the following statement to all Members of Congress, notifying them that we will score in favor the Verify First Act. The House will hold a vote on the proposed legislation tomorrow.
A new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report shows that between January 1 and March 31, 124,799 DACA applications were approved, giving work permits and protection from deportation to illegal aliens. Out of these, an estimated 98,000 received their approval after Pres. Trump took office on January 20, 2017, despite his campaign promise to end the program on his first day in office.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) recently sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to review the fraudulent payments made to illegal aliens under IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. The payments were made to those who apply the Additional Child Tax Credit which is made possible because the applicants do not have to submit their Social Security number.
Legislation that would have made Maryland a “sanctuary state” and a bill that would have lowered tuition rates for Tennessee illegal aliens failed in their respective state legislatures. The bills were seen as challenges to President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Three supervisors for Waste Management in Houston, TX have been sentenced to prison for knowingly hiring 10 or more illegal aliens. The men had encouraged illegal aliens to take the identities of U.S. citizens so that they could hire them.
On Wednesday Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) introduced the Verify First Act, H.R. 1671, that would require the Treasury Department to work with the Social Security Administration and DHS to verify an individual’s Social Security number before they can receive the health insurance tax credits.
On Monday, a provision was removed from the GOP’s American Health Care Act that would require an individual’s immigration status to be verified before they could receive the healthcare tax credit. The provision would have allowed the Treasury Department to access immigration status data at DHS, the same failed verification system that Obamacare used.
The Washington Times -- Stephen Dinan
That’s not good enough for immigration crackdown groups. They say Republicans should demand more details in the bill rather than leaving enforcement to departments that in four years could be in the administration of someone other than President Trump.
The GOP health care proposal, the American Health Care Act, would leave in place the same failed verification system used by Obamacare to prevent illegal aliens from accessing taxpayer benefits. NumbersUSA Founder and President Roy Beck issued the following statement.
Healthcare reform legislation unveiled by GOP Leaders on Monday night would, at best, leave in place a verification system that allowed up to 500,000 illegal aliens to access taxpayer-funded benefits over the last several years. But the plan could eliminate the verification process altogether, leaving tax credits available to all illegal aliens.
In praising President Obama's decision to end "wet foot, dry foot," the New York Times described the decades-old policy toward Cuban migrants as "misguided" for encouraging "Cubans to embark on perilous, and often deadly, journeys on rafts across the Florida straits and across borders in South and Central America."
The Associated Press reports President Obama terminated a longstanding policy that allows any Cuban who touches U.S. soil to become a legal permanent resident and citizen. The announcement comes after an agreement was reached with Cuba to take back the citizens the U.S. seeks to deport. The repeal is effective immediately.
There has been an increase in the number of DACA recipients who are seeking to leave the U.S. under advance parole in order to legally re-enter the U.S. and get on the fast track to citizenship.
Mercury News reports the State of California has issued driver’s licenses to about 806,000 illegal aliens in the two years since a state law took effect. The licenses facilitate their ability to remain in the United States and compete with citizens and legal residents for jobs.
A new study by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) examines the reasons sanctuary jurisdictions use to justify their policies and offers solutions on what tools the new Trump administration could use to address the problem and safety concerns they create.
The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) obtained government ICE records that show that the agency has spent over $100 million in the last few years in transporting illegal alien children who have crossed the border since the 2014 border surge began. According to the IRLI’s calculations ICE spent on average $665 per minor in 2014, mostly on transportation costs to fly the children between government agencies, to relatives in the U.S. or back to their home countries if deported.
The Center for Immigration Studies’ Jessica Vaughn today revealed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) diverted $167 million from numerous programs to pay for the housing and care of those designated as unaccompanied alien children. With the latest border surge, HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is caring for a record number of illegal-alien minors. The shifted funds will cover just one month’s expenses, and the agency may need an additional $1-2 billion in fiscal year 2017.
The Washington Times reports White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Munoz told amnesty advocates that President Obama will not pardon illegal aliens prior to leaving office. She said a pardon does not apply to immigration cases and is not a permanent solution.
The Obama Administration is seeking to stay proceedings in the executive amnesty court case until February 2017, thus giving the Trump Administration time to take over. Obama had sought to block a temporary injunction placed on his Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and extended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which would have allowed him to implement the amnesties before leaving office.
President-elect Donald Trump pledged to block federal funding to sanctuary cities as part of his 100-day action plan, but the Democratic mayors of Chicago, New York City, and other cities say they won’t change their policies protecting criminal aliens. The new Administration may focus first on sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with ICE detainer requests while Congress considers legislation to further define sanctuary city prohibitions and the president’s sanctions authority.
A group of New York state lawmakers and immigration advocates are planning a rally to ask Pres. Obama to pardon 750,000 DACA recipients and protect them from deportation. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to stop the DACA program that granted amnesty and work permits to young adult illegal aliens who were brought into the U.S. at a young age.
The lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch on behalf of California resident and taxpayer Earl De Vries, seeks to decide whether the University of California (UC) Board of Regents has the authority to offer in-state tuition for illegal aliens at all University of California campuses.
A new alert by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this month that the Obama administration would grant work permits to illegal aliens who were affected by the hurricane and would assist those who missed their deportation hearings. Hurricane Matthew devastated the eastern coastline from Florida to Virginia, which would mean that any illegal aliens who were in this region could take advantage of these “immigration relief” measures.
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a new report that reveals that the immigrant population has reached a record high of 42.4 million immigrants (legal and illegal). The report uses Census Bureau data to show the impact this increase has had on the U.S.
New Orleans altered its sanctuary city policy last week in response to increasing crime rates and to further comply with federal law. Under the new policy police can honor ICE detainer requests but are still prohibited from asking or checking a person’s immigration status.
During Wednesday’s Commander-in-Chief Forum Donald Trump said that he is open to granting amnesty to illegal aliens who plan on joining the military or are currently serving in the U.S. military. Trump said that this would be a “very special circumstance” and they would have to be carefully vetted but could be granted legal status.
During a call-in press conference on Wednesday, Tom Nassif, President and CEO of the Western Growers Association (WGA), made a push for amnesty to bring in more foreign workers in order to drive down rising wages. He alleged that there is a labor shortage that is causing competition among businesses and that “wages are going up dramatically”.
The Obama administration is granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Syrians who are currently living in the U.S. illegally. Under this program, the over 8,000 Syrians who illegally crossed the U.S. border or overstayed their visas can stay in the U.S. for another 18 months and gain access to work permits and other legal documents.
Pres. Obama’s decision to reestablish diplomatic ties with Cuba has led to a surge of Cuban migrants that has already exceeded FY15 numbers. The Customs and Border Patrol agency reported that 44,353 Cuban migrants have entered the U.S. in FY26 already compared to the 40,115 that entered last year.
The Department of Justice’s Inspector General has released a memorandum that finds that the practices of sanctuary jurisdictions violate federal law. This report was only made public after the Senate voted down Sen. Toomey’s bill that would have ended sanctuary practices.
In her acceptance speech last night, Hillary Clinton laid out several of the most important reasons why I work to dramatically reduce overall immigration:
Yesterday the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) released a statement saying that Clinton’s immigration plan is extreme and puts Americans at risk. Hillary Clinton has pledged to expand Pres. Obama’s amnesty in her first 100 days in office.
USCIS confirmed that 2,994 DACA recipients have been approved for “adjustment of status” allowing them to receive green cards through the advanced parole program. The admission came in response to a letter from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) earlier this year. The letter also states that 22,340 DACA individuals have been approved for the parole program as of December 31, 2015 and 5,068 of those have also applied for adjustment of status.
While discussing the new GOP agenda at a CNN town hall yesterday, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) repeated his support for a Gang of Eight type amnesty of offering work permits to illegal aliens currently living in the U.S.
Yesterday Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) introduced The Military Amnesty Prevention Act (H.R. 5710), which would prohibit DACA recipients and other illegal aliens from enlisting in the Armed Forces. This bill is similar to the NDAA appropriations amendment that Reps. Gosar, Steve King (R-Iowa), and Pete Sessions (R-Texas) pushed for last week that was narrowly defeated 210-211.
Senate Democrats voted down procedural motions to begin debate on bills to strip funding from sanctuary cities (S. 3100) and impose stricter penalties on repeat border crossers (S. 2193). Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., complained the bills would undermine local law enforcement and overcrowd prisons. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the bills were supported by the law enforcement community and designed to prevent more murders by illegal aliens.
In a 4-4 tie, the Supreme Court today affirmed a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that temporarily blocks implementation of President Obama's DAPA and extended DACA amnesties. The case brought by 26 states now returns to District Judge Andrew Hanen’s court for a consideration of its merits.
The California state legislature has passed a measure that will use an Affordable Care Act (ACA) loophole called an “innovation waiver” to offer healthcare subsidies to illegal aliens. Through the innovation waiver a state can apply to expand coverage as along as they pay the extra costs, which could be in the billions.
